Inglefield, Edward Augustus
A Summer Search for Sir John Franklin With A Peep into the Polar BasinLondon: Thomas Harrison 1853 - London: Thomas Harrison, 1853. First Edition. 8vo. - 22.7cm. Half-title, Folding map and 4 lithographic plates. Original publisher's blue blind-stamped decorated cloth, gilt-lettered on spine. Abbey Travel 642; NMM 920; Sabin 34758; Staton & Tremaine/TPL 3265; Arctic Bibliography 7716 Inglefield set out from Britain on his search in July 1852, commanding Lady Franklin's private steamer Isabel, seven years after Franklin had left on his ill-fated search for the fabled Northwest Passage. Once Inglefield had reached the Arctic, a search and survey of Greenland's west coast was made; Ellesmere Island was re-sighted and named in honor of the president of the Royal Geographical Society; Smith Sound was penetrated further than any known records; Jones Sound was also searched; and a landing was made at Beechey Island in Lancaster Sound. No sign, however, of Franklin's expedition was found. Finally, before the onset of winter forced Inglefield to turn homewards, the expedition searched and charted much of Baffin Island's eastern coast. Despite finding no traces of the Franklin expedition, Inglefield was fted on his return for the surveying his expedition had achieved. The Royal Geographical Society awarded him its 1853 Patron's Medal "for his enterprising survey of the coasts of Baffin Bay, Smith Sound and Lancaster Sound." This copy has been professionally restored. By using an actual first edition, highly detailed, dimensionally correct, faithful reproductions were made of the fold-out panorama and the fold-out map at the rear Ñ these were both missing in this copy when it was obtained. The two pages have been attached in their proper places by a professional bookbinder. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]
[Bookseller: Chet Ross Rare Books, ABAA]